Without You
by Kit the Pokemaniac
Summary: A series of Pokemon shipping/character death one-shots. Yay! Romance tragedies rock! XD... I take shipping requests. Latest ship: OthelloShipping! Ash x Hilda/Touko/White/Shiro/Annoying person with too many names! :3
1. Chapter 1

**Welcome to my brand-new fic, "Without You"! **

**This is a series of one-shots. Each one shot is separate, but they're all basically going to be shipping/character death one-shots. So basically, I'll pick a ship, and then make one of the characters in the ship die! :D **

**...XD I know, I know, I'm evil. But hey, drama and grief and romance are some of my favorite things to write... so I thought, "Why not combine all three?" Hope you enjoy! **

**(ContestShipping is my OTP, so I just HAD to start with it. XD) **

**... **

**Always and Forever - ContestShipping (May x Drew) **

"Wow, the river's sure wild today," May noted. "Must be because it rained so hard earlier this morning."

Drew smirked. "I noticed. But it's pretty nice out now. The sun's coming out, see?" He pointed to where the sun was just barely visible from behind a cloud. As he watched, the small cloud drifted away, revealing the bright light and warming Drew's face.

The two were walking along the banks of a usually calm river near Mauville City. They had shared a room in Mauville's Pokémon Center while preparing for a contest to be held later that day, and both decided to go out for a walk along the river. So far, it had turned out to be quite a refreshing stroll indeed.

"Yeah," May sighed happily in response to his comment about the sun. Drew cast a glance at her face. One thing he loved about May was that she was always so bursting full of real, honest emotion. She never tried to hide her feelings. That was what made her so easy to talk to: you always knew how she was feeling, and she was always completely honest with you.

Now, the sun was in her hair, making it look almost golden. She had taken her bandanna off earlier, so her hair was completely loose, and he liked it that way. When she turned to smile at him, her sapphire blue eyes glistened brightly.

Drew showed her a smile in return - not a smirk this time, but a real, actual, genuine smile. "You've got the beautiful eyes, May, you know that?"

May looked slightly taken aback by the comment. "I-I..." She seemed at a loss for words. "Th... thank you, Drew." She smiled shyly at him.

For a moment, he just stared at her. Then he caught himself and looked back up at the sky before she could notice. Two small Starly were flying overhead, twisting and circling around each other. _Little_ _lovebirds, _Drew thought with a smirk.

"Oh, look!" May suddenly exclaimed, grabbing Drew's arm with one hand and pointing with the other. He looked up at where she was pointing, and his breath caught. The sky was a dull, cornflower blue, but the bright, clear, and vibrant colors of a gorgeous rainbow was what amazed Drew. Never before had he seen such a beautiful rainbow.

"I think it's a sign," May decided. "And it means we'll do great in today's contest!"

Drew smirked. "One of us will, at least."

May's brow furrowed. "Well... um, that's better than both of us doing terribly..."

Drew laughed. "I'll just messing with you, May."

May brightened. "Oh, I know! But still, even one of us doing great is better than neither of us, right?"

He nodded, still smirking. May was always so cheerful and optimistic. That was another thing he loved about her...

Suddenly, his thoughts were cut off as, with a gasp, May's foot slipped on a patch of slippery mud - the result of the rainstorm less than an hour earlier.

"May!" Drew's eyes widened. Her balance off, she started to topple backwards into the river. He reached out to grasp her hand, but her fingers slipped out of his and she fell in.

"May!" Drew shouted again, his voice revealing his terror. "MAY!"

The raging current had pulled her underwater, and she wasn't coming back up. Finally, knowing there was really nothing else he could do, Drew jumped in after her.

While May wasn't a strong swimmer at all, Drew was. It was still difficult for him to move around at all in the fierce current, though, and he soon began to panic. Where was she? He couldn't find her, and if she didn't make it to the surface to breathe...

_No, no, no! _Drew's fears grew. No. That couldn't happen. No...

Finally, he saw her. She had been pushed to the bottom of the riverbed by the current, and he quickly reached down to grab her hand. This time, he wouldn't let her out of his grip.

Drew forced himself against the current as he pulled May and himself to the surface. What scared him the most was that she wasn't moving or kicking against the water or holding on to his hand or _anything. _She was completely limp.

Finally, gasping for air, Drew dragged himself onto the surface with May in tow.

"M-May," he gasped as he gently laid her limp body out on the grassy riverbank. "_May!"_ There were tears falling down his cheeks, dropping onto her face as he leaned over her. "May, _please!_" His voice cracked.

Suddenly, her eyes fluttered open. She gasped for air. "D... Drew..." Her voice was weak and shaky. "Drew... you... you saved... m-me..." Her breathing was shallow.

"May..." Drew's voice cracked, and he leaned down, pressing his lips to hers. He felt her faint heartbeat under the palm of his right hand, which rested right on her heart.

She reached up and wrapped her arms around him, relaxing into the kiss. Finally, he pulled away, and looked right into her eyes. Those beautiful, sapphire blue eyes.

"I... Drew... I l-love you..." Her breathing was even more shallow than before. _No, no, no... _Drew was thinking. More tears slid down his face.

"I love you too, May," he whispered. "Always and forever." He leaned down and kissed her again. His hand still rested on her chest and, after a moment, he felt her heart stop. In that instant, Drew felt something inside him crack.

When he pulled away, her gorgeous blue eyes were glassy, focused on something far in the distance. Her breathing had stopped.

There was no holding back the tears now. Drew let them fall as he cried over his fallen rival - his fallen love.

...

Drew stared at the headstone.

_May Maple _

_January 5, 1997 - August 19, 2010 _

_Beloved daughter, sister, and friend_

What it didn't say was that she had been the one girl Drew had ever loved, and probably would ever love. There was no one else like her. No one else quite so amazing.

He had been fourteen that day, and she had been thirteen. She would have been sixteen now. As he stared at the date engraved in the cold hard, stone, the date that had changed his life three long years ago, he felt as if he was back there, by the river on that day all over again, and all of those emotions came rushing back to him.

Forcing back tears, Drew slowly pulled a small red rose out of his pocket. He stepped forward and set the rose right in front of the headstone. A small note was attached to it.

_I love you. _

That was what it said.

Because when she died, he never stopped loving her. Not for a moment. He would always love her sweet demeanour, her honest emotions, and her beautiful sapphire blue eyes. He would always love her. Always and forever.

And as Drew slowly turned away, tears glistening in his eyes, he saw a few clouds part to reveal a dazzling rainbow. It looked exactly like the one he and May had seen, three long years ago.

A tear slowly slid down his cheek.

Always and forever, he would love her.

...

**Well, there you go! A romantic tearjerker! :3 Just letting everyone know, I probably won't be updating any more of my stories until this Friday, at least - maybe not until Saturday, or even Sunday. DX Still, I hope you enjoyed, please review, and check out my other stories, too! I'll try to update as soon as I can! **


	2. Chapter 2

**This ship is another of my favorites, but still, NOTHING beats ContestShipping. XD I hope you enjoy. Also, if y'all want some good Pokémon fanfics, I recommend you read this really cool fic by I Am Lu. It's called The Ash Connection, and it has a sequel, too! :3 Anyway, on to THIS story... **

...

**Far Too Short - LeafGreenShipping (Leaf x Gary) **

...

"Can't catch me, you Slowpoke!" Leaf taunted.

"Oh, really? I'd think twice about that, Leaf," Gary replied as he caught up to her. The two were on their way back to the Crimson City Pokémon Center, where they were both staying for the night. They had decided there wasn't really a reason not to share a room, so now they had ended up with a room together. It didn't mean anything, of course - Leaf had insisted on that. After all, it was just one night. And it was only a room. They weren't sharing a house or anything, so it wasn't like they were living together... Leaf shuddered at the thought.

The reason they were staying at the same Center was that they were both on their way back to Pallet Town. Gary was coming home from Sinnoh, while Leaf was returning from Hoenn. They met up in Johto and had been traveling back to Pallet together since. Now, they were so close, Leaf was beginning to get really excited. Home was probably only a day away!

That night, they had been out looking at the stars. Gary had said he knew a beautiful place where you could see so many stars, it was downright amazing. He was right - Leaf had been completely in awe. She'd been lying next to Gary on a grassy hill, just staring up at the tiny twinkling lights in the night sky, letting her thoughts drift as she talked somewhat absently with her childhood friend. The conversation had been friendly and comfortable, just how Leaf liked it - she was never good with awkward situations. In fact, she was usually the awkward one.

Now, after about an hour or so of just sitting and talking and stargazing, they were on their way back to the Pokémon Center. It was pretty chilly out, and even though it was only about 7 p.m., it was already very dark.

Leaf shivered. "I'm cold."

"Leaf, it's January! News flash: it gets cold out at night in the middle of winter," Gary said sarcastically. Leaf rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah," she grumbled. "You never change, do you, Gary?"

"Of course not!" Gary smirked. "Shouldn't that be a good thing? I'll always stay this awesome!" He struck a pose, and Leaf laughed.

"Of course you will," she replied, rolling her eyes.

Gary grinned at her.

Leaf looked Gary up and down, and he frowned at her. "Wha - "

"Let's race!" Leaf interrupted. Her eyes lit up with a smile, and she put on a burst of speed.

"H-hey!" Gary exclaimed. "No fair!" He put on a determined face and raced after her, determined not to lose.

Leaf turned and started running backwards, facing him. "Aww, Gary, you are a Slowpoke!" She laughed.

Gary smirked. "I'll show you who the real Slowpoke is!" He teased as he began to catch up to her. Leaf laughed again. She turned around and began to run faster.

Soon, they came to a large street. Leaf whipped her head back and forth, just in case, to look for cars. Seeing that there were none, she sprinted across the road.

When she got to the other side, Leaf turned. Gary was just coming to the edge of the street. He was about to cross when, suddenly, he looked down. Leaf frowned. It looked like he had dropped something.

Gary crouched down and to pick up whatever it was he had dropped and closed it in his fist before standing upright smirking at her, and casually walking across the street.

Leaf rolled her eyes. He was teasing her. She put her hands on her hips, not about to take the head start he was trying to give her. That way, when she beat him back to the Center, she could say she won fair and square. Well, there was the bit with her "head start" at the beginning... but Leaf decided not to count that...

Then Gary slipped.

There were patches of ice all over the road, and he'd slipped on one. He fell backwards and landed on his backside. Leaf laughed.

"You just fall?" She teased.

"No, I attacked the floor." He replied haughtily.

"Backwards?"

"I'm skilled." He smirked as he stood up once more. Leaf rolled her eyes at him.

"Whatever. Just cross the street, Gary." She told him, tapping her foot impatiently. He grinned.

Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw lights. Turning to look, Leaf realized they were the headlights of a car going way too fast.

And the car was headed right for Gary.

Leaf gasped. "Gary!" She shouted. "Gary, move!"

Gary looked up at her and frowned, obviously confused. "Leaf, what..." Hearing the screech of the car's wheels, he turned his head toward the sound.

Time seemed to slow down.

Leaf saw Gary's eyes widen as he saw the car racing toward him. Whoever was driving either didn't see Gary, or couldn't stop in time. It was too late for Gary to move out of the way, and too late for Leaf to do anything.

"Gary!" Leaf screamed. She could only watch with horror as the car slammed into his body, and he let out a strangled cry of pain. Blood spattered onto the street. Gary was flung to the ground, and his head hit the pavement with a sickening crack. Leaf cried out and ran forward as the car sped onward, leaving the two teenagers alone in a dark street.

Gary's head was covered in blood from where his skull had cracked when he hit the ground. His torso had been mangled where the car slammed into him, and there was so much blood everywhere - on the pavement, on Gary, on Leaf's hands when she gently reached down to cradle him.

"Gary," she whispered. She held him so that his head rested on her lap. Gary looked up at her, dazed with pain.

"L-Leaf..." He muttered. He was struggling to breathe, and she could see he was in a lot of pain. "I-I... a-attacked... the... the floor again..."

There were tears in Leaf's eyes as she nodded, unable to manage even a tiny smile at the joke. Not in this situation. Not with Gary bleeding out his life in front of her. Gently, Leaf brushed his hair out of his eyes.

"Gary... i-it's okay, it's going to be okay, I promise... don't worry... w-we'll get you to a hospital... it'll be okay..." Leaf promised, her voice cracking. She reached into her pocket and fumbled for her phone, before quickly dialing a number. "P-professor Oak?" She begged, her voice strained. "Professor, I-I'm sorry, but... c-can you... can you get to Cerulean? It's... it's Gary..."

"Leaf? What are you talking about? Is Gary all right?!"

"P-please just come, Professor!" There were tears in Leaf's voice, which was full of desperation.

"I'm on my way." The Professor sounded grave. Unable to speak, Leaf just nodded, though she knew he couldn't see her. She hung up and dialed 911 next.

"H-hello? Please, someone, my - my friend, he's really hurt..." Leaf's voice was desperate now.

As she gave them all of the details, tears trickled down Leaf's face. She saw Gary looking up at her, his eyes full of pain, his breathing unsteady. At last, she hung up.

"Help's on the way, Gary..." Leaf whispered. "It's okay. It'll be okay, I promise. You're going to be fine..." But Leaf knew she was lying. Gary nodded, and she could see that he didn't believe her, either.

"Leaf..." He struggled to make out the words. "I... I l-love... y-you..."

"I love you, too," Leaf's voice was strained and full of tears as she stroked his brown hair, now soaked red with blood from when his head hit the pavement. "I love you, too, Gary."

...

Leaf sat in the hospital, waiting.

That was all she had been doing for the past two hours. Waiting. Waiting for some sort of news about Gary, whether it was good or bad, and praying to Arceus that there would be no bad news.

Professor Oak was seated on the couch opposite hers in the hospital lobby. They were both anxiously awaiting the doctor's return. Whenever he came back to the lobby, he would bear some sort of news; this they both knew.

As soon as the ambulance had arrived and Gary had been whisked away to the emergency room, Leaf had called Professor Oak to say that she and Gary were in the hospital. She'd heard the desperate fear in his voice as he asked her for any kind of detail about the situation, but again, Leaf refused to say, and begged him to just come.

Now that the Professor was here, it was evident he was a mess. He'd been horrified when she told him the story, and now here he was, hoping upon all hope that his grandchild, his only living family, would live to see another day.

Finally the doctor appeared in the doorway to the room where Gary was being operated on. Both Leaf and Professor Oak looked up expectantly.

"Leaf, Professor Oak," he began, his face grave. "I... I am very sorry."

Leaf's heart nearly stopped when she heard that. No.

"We did everything we could, but there was too much internal damage. We couldn't save him. I'm afraid... I'm afraid Gary has passed away."

"No," Leaf whispered. No. No. No.

"No," the Professor shook his head, his voice cracking, not wanting to believe it but knowing that there was nothing else to believe. "Not Gary. Please, no... not Gary..."

There were tears trickling down Leaf's face. "Can I... can I see him?" She asked, her voice hoarse and strained.

The doctor nodded and led her into the room.

There he lay on the bed, a calm, peaceful expression on his pale face. Leaf stumbled forward. She grasped his hand and held it. It was cold - stone cold. A sharp pang stung Leaf's heart - seeing him made it all the worse, and all the more real.

There was Gary, lying in front of her, but Leaf knew it wasn't really him. It was just his body. Gary Oak was gone. Gone forever.

He almost looked like he could have been sleeping. But Leaf knew he wasn't. She knew he was not going to sit up, smirk, and say, "Fooled you, Leaf!" He was not going to miraculously get all better. Gary was dead.

Tears spilled down her face. "Gary, I..." her voice cracked. "I love you..."

Leaf knew he would never respond. He knew she loved him, and she knew he had loved her, but nothing would ever come of it now. They would never go on a date, and he would never kiss her. He would never win a League or become a Pokémon Professor. It was too late for all of that. He was dead. Gary Oak was dead and he was never coming back.

Leaf noticed something in his hand, and her breath caught. It was a tiny pin - one that you wore on your shirt. It was shaped like a teddy bear. She had given it to him for his birthday a few years back, and on the back she'd written in permanent marker,

Happy Birthday, Garebear.

He hated that nickname, and she knew it. The gift was really meant to tease him, but he had kept it all these years anyway. Leaf bit her lip as she realized something.

This was what he had dropped and stopped to pick up before he crossed the street.

This was what had held him back for those few seconds.

If not for the pin falling, he would have been safely across the street by the time the car drove by where they were. This little pin had cost him his life.

Leaf closed her fingers around the pin, tears spilling down her cheeks as she looked at Gary's face. His life had been cut far too short.

Leaf leaned down and gently kissed his cheek.

"I still love you, Gary," she said quietly, a sad smile on her tear-stained face. "I always will."

She was here without him now, but his memory would stay with her forever. That smirk. That laugh. That voice. Those eyes. Their friendship.

And, though it had been cut far too short, she would always remember the brief love they shared.

...

**I think this one was pretty good, huh? I still take shipping requests. Read Lu's story. And REVIEW! **

**Gary: What is it with you and killing me?! **

**:3 I do have a habit of killing you in my stories, don't I? **

**Gary: *glares* **

**Hey, it's fun! XD**


	3. Chapter 3

**I'm SO SORRY for neglecting this fic for, like, a month! I was just busy, and I had other fics, too, so... yeah. PLEASE FORGIVE ME! **

**Okay, anyway, I'm giving this a shot, even though I don't know too much about this ship. It was a request from "Satoshi and Touko". Can you guess what the request was? XD **

**It was indeed Ash x Hilda, otherwise known as Satoshi x Touko, Ash x White, Ash x Shiro, Satoshi x Shiro, and a whole bunch of other things, but you get the idea. Okay, enough author's note. I hope you like this one! **

**... **

**Looking Back - OthelloShipping (Ash x Hilda or a bunch of other names for those characters which I already mentioned up top. I'm using Ash and Hilda.) **

**... **

He had met her when he was traveling in Unova.

He had just happened to bump into her one day - literally. Ash had been so excited about winning his Nimbasa City Gym battle - Iris actually teased that he was "drooling over that dumb badge, just like a kid" - that, while walking to the Pokémon Center through the streets of Nimbasa, he didn't notice her right in front of him. Ash bumped right into her, startling them both and knocking her down.

"Ow!" She said angrily as she picked herself up off the ground. "Watch it, that... hurt..." The girl looked up and saw his face, and she trailed off.

Ash was looking down at her, concerned. "Oh - oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to bump into you. Guess Iris was right, maybe I should put the badge away..." He quickly held out his hand and helped her up before slipping the badge into its case.

"Oh darn, now where did my bag go?" She muttered, looking around as she brushed dirt off of her clothes. Ash's eyebrows shot up when he saw her bag, and he picked it up for her, handing it to her with a crooked grin.

She looked up to thank him, and his heart fluttered for a moment when he saw those brown eyes of hers. They were beautiful, like melted chocolate...

Ash caught himself staring before she could notice. He quickly looked away and mumbled something about how he needed to get going, and brushed past her.

Hilda stared after him for a moment, the wind rustling through her large ponytail as she watched him disappear into the crowd. _Didn't even get his name - or his number, _she thought with a sigh.

"Oh well," she murmured to herself as she searched through the contents of her bag to check that everything was there. "Just another one of those times when you see a person once, but never again, I guess."

...

The next morning, whether by fate or by sheer luck, they met again.

Ash was headed out of the Pokémon Center with Cilan and Iris, ready to set off for the next town yet slightly reluctant to leave Nimbasa City's wonders, when he saw her, absentmindedly sitting on a bench and gazing out at the crowd, looking almost as if she were analyzing the passersby. Ash wasn't sure why, but he didn't hesitate to split off from his two companions and jog over to the bench where that girl was sitting.

"Hey!" Iris complained. "Where are you going _now?" _

"Ash, wait!" Cilan protested. "Come back!"

But Ash ignored his friends' comments as he walked up to the girl. "Hey," he said, startling her out of her trance.

"Oh!" The girl's face turned red. "I-I'm sorry, was I in your way? I..." Her eyes widened when she saw him. "It's you!"

Ash grinned. "It's you."

The girl laughed, her ponytail swaying slightly as she did so. "Funny we should run into each other again, huh?"

"Yeah... well, not _literally _this time." Ash replied.

She laughed again. "Yeah. You know, I never actually caught your name."

"Oh, it's Ash." The raven-hakred Trainer relied nonchalantly. "Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town."

She smiled. "Well, I'm Hilda White of Nuvema Town."

"Nuvema Town, huh? You know a guy named Trip?" Ash asked curiously.

"Oh, you mean that kid? He's really cute. I'm fourteen now, and the last time I saw Trip was back before I left on my journey - when he was only six. I guess he's older now, huh?" Hilda said thoughtfully.

"Ah," Ash didn't exactly know what to say. He had never been good with awkward situations. Was anyone ever good with awkward situations?

_Well, she's fourteen,_ he mused to himself in the silence. _That's a year older than I am... wait, why am I even thinking about that? I don't care how old she is... _

"U-um, c-could I get your number?" She suddenly asked, sounding nervous. Her face was a little pink. Ash nodded quickly, pulling out a scrap of paper from his backpack.

As he scribbled his down and she wrote hers, Ash saw Cilan and Iris making their way over to him out of the corner of his eye. _Oh, great... _

"Soooo, Ash, who's the girl?" Iris asked teasingly. Hilda looked up with a frown, obviously unsure of how to react.

Ash rolled his eyes. "Just another Trainer I met, okay, Iris? Jeez."

"Oh, come on, Ash!" Iris sighed. "I wasn't being rude or anything. You exchanging numbers?"

"Yep," Ash replied as he finished up. He handed the scrap of paper to Hilda and took hers, as well. She folded it up and tucked it into her purse, and dropped his into a small pocket in his backpack.

Iris smirked. "Good luck with him," she said to Hilda. "He is such a kid... you could be totally blatant with him and it'd go right over his head."

Ash appeared confused, no clue what Iris meant by that, proving her point. Hilda turned bright red - again - looked away.

"Y-yeah," Hilda mumbled. "I'll keep that in mind."

"So... shall we go?" Cilan intervened. Ash nodded, and the group of three left Hilda sitting on a bench alone, contemplating what the heck had just happened.

And, even after Hilda was out of sight and he could barely see Nimbasa City in the distance, Ash kept looking back.

...

**A Few Months Later **

**... **

Ash's phone was ringing.

He groaned, rolled over in bed, reached over to his nightstand, and grabbed the device, checking the time on the screen as he did so. It was too early for phone calls, wasn't it?

The clock on his phone read 11:45.

"I guess it's not too early for phone calls," Ash sighed. He pressed the 'answer' button and pressed the cell to his ear, not bothering to check the Caller ID. It was probably Iris or Cilan or Max or one of his other friends he had traveled with in distant regions. Now that he was back home in Pallet Town, he had a lot more time on his hands, and his friends apparently realized that, as they started to call him all the time...

"Hello?"

Ash's eyes widened. He recognized the voice, but it was definitely not one he would have expected to hear.

"Y-yes? Hilda?" Ash replied, unsure.

"Oh! So I didn't call the wrong number! Hi, Ash!" Hilda replied cheerfully. Ash grinned. She sounded like she was in a pretty good mood.

"Hey, Hilda," he replied, trying to sound nonchalant, though he was suddenly nervous all of a sudden. Why was he nervous? It was just a fellow Trainer. Just Hilda.

"Well, see, the reason I called," Hilda began, "is to tell you that I'm coming to Kanto!"

"Really?" Ash's eyes widened. He'd get to see Hilda again! Maybe. It all depended where in Kanto she was headed for...

"Yeah!" Hilda said excitedly. "I'm visiting some relatives, actually. And the best part is I'm going to Viridian City! That's really close to Pallet Town, your hometown, right?"

Now Ash was really getting excited. "Yeah!" He nodded vigorously, even though she couldn't see him. Oh well. She could still here the vigor in his voice. "Think we could meet up?"

"That sounds great!" Hilda gasped. "How about... um, there is a Pokémon Center in Viridian City, right?"

"Oh," Ash frowned. "Uh, Hilda, we don't have Pokémon Centers in Kanto."

"Wh-what?" Hilda sounded bewildered. "Oh. The other regions are so different... wh-why don't you..." the Unovan Trainer trailed off, not sure what to make of what Ash had said.

"Hilda, I'm kidding!" Ash laughed. "Yes, there's a Pokémon Center in Viridian. Should we meet there?"

"Oh!" Hilda laughed, too. "Silly me. Anyway, yeah! I'll be there a week from today. Can we meet at Viridian's Pokémon Center the day after I arrive? That's next Wednesday."

"Okay. Does 6:30 pm work for you?" Ash asked..

"Mm-hmm," Hilda replied. "Okay, then. See you there!"

With a _click_, the line went dead, and Ash was left wondering if he had somehow just sort of accidentally scheduled his first date.

...

"Where is he?" Hilda mumbled to herself. It was now 6:40 pm Wednesday night, a week and a day after she'd called Ash and they had scheduled this "date" of sorts. Was it a date...?

"No." Hilda shook her head, murmuring to herself. "No. Course it's not a date. It's not like we're... boyfriend and girlfriend or anything..." She trailed off, staring out at the horizon, letting her thoughts drift.

"Hilda!"

Her head snapped up. She whipped around, looking for the speaker, wondering who it could be -

And then she saw him.

He was rushing toward her, panting, Pikachu running faithfully by his side. Hilda's face broke into a smile. "Ash!"

He grinned that crooked grin of his. "Uh, sorry I'm late..."

She smirked. "It's fine. So, you wanna go somewhere, now that we've met up?"

"Um, yeah. See, I was thinking..." Ash hesitated. Should he?

"Yes?" Hilda prompted.

"Well, there's this one place I think you might like," he said sheepishly. Hilda smiled.

"What is this place?" She inquired.

"Just, um... follow me, I guess." Ash shrugged. She laughed and nodded.

"Okay."

...

"Oh. Oh, Arceus, Ash - it's beautiful!" Hilda's hand flew to her mouth. The sky was filled with a gorgeous pallet of colors - seemingly hundreds of shades of pink, red, orange, yellow, and deep blue toward the edges. Hilda swore she'd never seen such a beautiful sunset.

"Um, yeah..." Ash looked away. "The rocks down there, on the beach - they're real sharp, and the cliff's edge, it's kinda unstable..."

They were on a cliff above the beach on the edge of a forest just west of Viridian City. The sunset was amazing, and Ash had only been here once before to see the amazing view - when he was about six years old, he'd come here with Gary. The sunset was just as gorgeous that night as it had been years before.

"...so the edge, it's kind of dangerous." Ash finished.

"I'm a dangerous girl," Hilda said with a shrug. Ash couldn't help but smile. She plopped herself down on the grass and looked up at the sunset, and a dreamy look came into her eyes. Ash sat down beside her.

"Kenga! Kengaskhan!"

Ash's head snapped up. An angry-looking Kengaskhan had just stomped out of the bushes nearby.

"Oh, crap," Ash muttered. "Must be its territory..."

"Ash?" Hilda's eyes were wide with fear. "What's that?"

"Kengaskhan," he muttered. "They are _very _territorial. I'm assuming that's why it looks so mad..."

Hilda bit her lip. She looked pretty scared.

"Go, Pikachu! Iron Tail!" Ash yelled. Pikachu nodded, and with a cry of "Pika!", slammed his tail down on Kengaskhan. The Pokémon flinched for a second before advancing on them, forcing both of the young trainers backward, toward the edge.

"Pikachu! Iron Tail, again!" Ash yelled. Simultaneously, there was a loud _crack _and a scream from Hilda.

The Kengaskhan fell to the ground, knocked out. Ash whipped around to see Hilda clinging to the cliff's edge with everything she had, her fingers slipping, her body dangling over the deadly rocks on the beach below.

"Hilda!" Ash yelled, grabbing her hand. There were tears in her eyes, and try as he might, Ash couldn't pull her up.

"Let go," she whispered.

"No!" Ash cried, fire in his eyes and desperation in his voice.

Tears streamed down Hilda's cheeks. Her hands, damp with sweat, began to slip out of Ash's grip. "Ash, I think I..."

"Hilda, it's fine, you'll be fine!" Ash shook his head. He was starting to cry.

"Ash, no, I - "

"T-tell me when you're safe, Hilda!" He cried out.

"Ash. I think I love you," Hilda told him. Her fingers slipped further.

Ash's grip tightened. "I - I think I love you, too..." he gasped.

Hilda's hands slipped.

And she fell.

"HILDA!" Ash yelled.

He looked away, tears spilling down his face. She didn't scream, she just fell. He didn't look over the edge. He knew she was gone.

"Hilda," he whispered. Pikachu climbed into his lap, and the little mouse was crying, too. "Oh, Pikachu - Hilda's gone. And it's my fault."

Tears stung his eyes as he stood. He wasn't going to look over the edge. He couldn't.

Ash hugged Pikachu close. "Oh, Mew. Pikachu, she's gone..." He couldn't bring himself to believe it. Tears kept coming. He couldn't believe this, no, he couldn't...

But as he stumbled toward Viridian City to get help, Ash couldn't keep himself from looking back.

...

"Sh-she was an amazing girl. She must've been a great trainer, too. I... I wish I could've gotten to know her better." Tears stung Ash's eyes as he spoke. He tried to continue, but his voice failed him. He started to choke up.

"Thank you, Ash." The priest nodded toward him, and he hurried back to his seat. Once he sat down, he ducked his head low. Tears dripped onto his lap.

They lowered the coffin into the ground. He hadn't seen Hilda after her death. He hadn't wanted to. The coffin had been closed, anyway.

"Come on, Ash," his mom whispered. "It's over. Let's go now."

He nodded numbly and stood, letting his mother lead him away from the horrible place. He hated funerals. He hated cemeteries. He hated death.

The tears kept coming. He couldn't stop them, and he didn't care to, anyway.

As they walked away from the funeral site, though, Ash lifted his head to look back. He couldn't see the grave anymore, just the crowd around it.

He forced himself to look forward again. Then he looked back.

He was looking back not only on Hilda's gravesite, but what they almost had, and what she'd said to him, and everything he thought was within his grasp before it slipped away from him, just like that. Death was too easy. Too quick. Too sudden.

Just like that, she'd slipped away, leaving him behind in a suddenly lonely world.

He didn't want to give her up.

And so, as he walked away from Hilda and what she left behind, Ash found himself constantly looking back.

...

**Whew! That was pretty long! Hope I made you cry. ;) See you next chapter, whenever that may be, or in one of the next chapters of my other stories, which I hope you'll read... *cough cough*... ANYWAY... **

**Yeah! So, don't forget to read and review! ;) I love you, my wonderful readers and reviewers! **


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